He's back
by boxesarehumble
Summary: Peeta and Katniss grow back together. There's no more war. But they'll be changed forever when they answer the door. This is a continuation of Mockingjay. Hope you all enjoy it
1. Chapter 1

-Continuation of Mockingjay-

So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?"

I tell him, "Real."

Our lips are about to touch when someone knocks on the door. I'm about to swear a thousand swear words at whoever wants to destroy this moment. Unlike all the other moments I've had with Peeta in the past years, this one is real. Well, aside from the rooftop scene before the Quell.

Peeta sighs then laughs, "I'll get it."

I grab his hand as he stands for support. I got too attached to this couch to stand on my own. "We'll both get it," I say.

A few more knocks on the door. This person is terribly impatient.

"Coming!" I shout.

We walk to the door hand-in-hand and I'm ready to slap the person with my free hand if this isn't important. Peeta twists the knob and we both let go of each other's grip.

There's a huge grin on his face. He's holding loads of shopping bags. Peeta and I just stand there in front of him motionless.

"Cinna?" Peeta asks, who is as confused as I am.

"Surprise. Missed me?" Cinna laughs.

I poke his face to make sure he wasn't a ghost haunting our home. He laughs a little and pokes me in the belly. That sort of hurt…I can't be dreaming.

"It's really me, Katniss. You two haven't looked any better." He says with a smile.

"We thought you were dead!" I exclaim with tears falling down my cheeks.

"Nice to see you, too." he says. I can't help but laugh. Great. Now I'm making weird noises that consist of both laughing and crying. "There, there." He pats my head and opens his arms and I immediately wrap mine around him. Peeta hugs the both of us and it takes a long time before we let go.

We all go inside the house and I make tea for the three of us. Peeta wipes his teary eyes while Cinna pats him on the back. I set the china set down on the coffee table and kiss Peeta on the cheek. I can't stand him hurt. He smiles and gets his cup.

"This is good tea," Cinna comments.

"Thank you," I say. "This was the one Bonnie and Twill made."

"Who?"

"Oh, no one." I give Peeta a small smile because I've told him about the two who were insisting that District 13 existed. I silently thank them in my head and sit there sipping my cup with Peeta's strong arm around me.

Cinna smirks at us. "Look at you guys." I can see his eyes water. "My Mockingjay did the right thing."


	2. Chapter 2

I break the silence by asking, "What's in the bags, Cinna?"

"Oh right," he picks up the smallest bag and gives it to me. "Here you go."

"You really shouldn't have gotten me any- OH!" I lose my words when I see what's inside. It's a necklace. Not just any necklace, it's a Mockingjay carrying a pearl on it's back.

"Wow. It's beautiful," My eyes are fixed on it and how shiny it is. "Thank you!" Before I can stand up and hug him, Peeta grabs the necklace from my hand and holds it up for his eyes to see.  
He puts it around my neck and moves his finger in a circular motion, "Twirl for me." That surely made Cinna laugh.

I twirl and they both release sounds of amazement. "You're beautiful. As always," Peeta says. I feel my cheeks burning.

"Wait, there's more!" Cinna exclaims, "Push down the pearl on it's back."

I push the pearl and suddenly, the Mockingjay starts to burn in flames. Fake flames, of course.

"Whoah!" I gasp. Peeta and I start clapping. Cinna stands and takes a small bow.

"You made this, didn't you? No one would have thought of such a brilliant idea." Peeta remarks, "You never changed."

_Changed._ The word echoes in my head. I don't know why but whenever I hear this word, it reminds me of how the Hunger Games changed everyone and all the cruel things the Capitol did… Wait a minute!

"How did you survive? I mean, how did you get here?" I ask, feeling stupid for only asking now. "Last time I saw you, you were being dragged out by Peacekeepers bloody and unconscious."

"Right! What did you do?" Peeta asks, only remembering now as well. He has that certain look on his face again, the same face he puts on when he draws or paints.

Buttercup hisses at the unfamiliar face. He paws the air in front of Cinna so I'm forced to throw a pillow at him and introduce the new guy. I can tell Buttercup still doesn't trust him, though.

"Sorry," I say. "Continue with your story."

I sort of regret asking him because by the look on his face, he doesn't like talking about it. He pauses every two minutes as if he's having a flashback. I give a concerned look to Peeta. He's traumatized. Well, who isn't?


	3. Chapter 3

We all sit there while he explains. Not even Buttercup interrupts. Everyone wants to hear what happened. Once he's finished, Cinna stands up and asks if he could use the bathroom. Peeta points at the direction of the nearest toilet. He stands up and locks the door. I exchange looks with Peeta. "He's been so strong," he says. "He was lucky to get out of there alive." Lucky isn't even a word to begin with.

After they dragged him out of the room with me hysterically screaming and helplessly trying to break the glass tube, they tied him up to a chair and beat him up. They stopped after a few minutes to make a phone call. About an hour later, President Snow comes in and asks for his last words. Cinna decides to make a deal with Snow. Just like the deal with District 13, he will pretend to be dead but only until the rebels have taken over. The president disagreed and put a gun to his head. Cinna begged again and told them they could use him as a slave. That they could make his death public if we lost the war. That they could use him against me.

Snow finally gave in as he thought there was absolutely no way the rebels could win. Besides, it was only District 13 who was holding a grudge back then. He untied his victim and threw him down a cell. He was only given 2 meals a day and had to sleep on cold cement. The day that they found out every District in Panem -even District 2- was in the rebellion, Snow decided to kill him. Cinna was not a fighter so in no way could he fight back. But one of the most fortunate things happened next. As Snow was about to pull the trigger, a Peacekeeper knocked him out.

Cinna, who was relieved yet frightened, just stood there, not knowing what to do next. He stared at the Peacekeeper. "…Why?"

In reply, the Peacekeeper took off his helmet. This was no Peacekeeper after all. It was Flavius. Three more of them came in, but with no helmets on. "We got to get out of here. NOW," Portia said. "It won't take them long to find out Snow's unconscious." Octavia started bursting into tears and shaking while Venia tried to calm her down. "Here," Portia gave Cinna a Peacekeeper suit and helmet, "You'll need these." She managed a small smile and said, "Glad to see you again." Cinna smiled back and quickly put on the suit. They all ran to the exit. They took one of the hovercrafts (a really old beat-up one) and traveled to District 4. They were first threatened, but as soon as Cinna took off his helmet, they recognized my stylist and warmly welcomed them to the rebellion. They did more hiding than fighting, after all they were just stylists. While the war was ongoing, Cinna spent all his time making this necklace. He thought it was the only way to clear his thoughts and relax. It wasn't easy to collect the parts, though.

After the rebellion and all the construction for the broken buildings, they all decided to stay in District 4, except for Cinna who wanted to go back to 12. When he arrived, his first stop was the Hob. He traded gems he was able to find underground with all sorts of things. I'm curious to see what he traded them for, but looking into his shopping bags without his permission would be rude.

I hear the door close and turn around. Peeta and I stare at him and he stops walking, "What? …Is there tissue stuck to my shoes?" he looks down at his feet to check. He looks at me suspiciously, "Okay, seriously now. What's wrong?" I squint my eyes at him, "So you were hiding in District 4… You don't have Finnick with you, do you?" He laughs a bit then his smile fades away. He hesitates for a while then shakes his head sadly, "They had a shrine built for him just a few days ago. His funeral was awful. There was this woman…I think her name was Annie. You know her, the crazy one. Surprisingly, she was calm. Well, she was crying like everyone else but she was different. Beside her was their son. I think she was trying to be strong for him." I smile at the thought of Annie. But Finnick… His name makes my eyes tear up. How I miss the boy with the sugar cubes. Peeta hugs me and I remind myself that he's in a better place now. He's done a lot for Panem and we all know that.

"Thanks," I tell Peeta. I look up to meet his blue eyes. Without Finnick, Peeta wouldn't even be with me. And to think I was about to kill him.

"I better go now. Going to talk to Haymitch then maybe back to 4. I feel incomplete without the team. But I promise I'll visit some time," Cinna says while picking up 3 bags and leaving 2 behind. "Those are yours. You'll need it in the future." We stand up, thank him and give him one last hug. He kisses me on the cheek and leaves for the door.

I sit back down on the couch. Peeta picks up the bags and sits next to me. He puts one on my lap and nods at me, indicating that I should open it. I do and I pick up the items inside. I hold them up to look at and start laughing.

"Oh, Cinna." I say as I stare at the baby clothes. They're beautiful and it's obvious he designed them himself. He probably traded the gems for this kind of cloth.

I look at Peeta and he's overjoyed. The other bag contains baby stuff, too. Then his eyes grow big. He picks up a jacket that has a note pinned to it. It reads, "To Peeta." He puts that aside and stares at the tiny clothes made for children. It's written on his face that he wants to raise kids. He looks at me, and smiles. I look away. I don't want to disappoint him. Nor can I resist his sweet smile.

"It's okay. I get it. You aren't ready, it's fine."

"I'm sorry, Peeta. I know you want—" He interrupts me with a kiss. There's that feeling again.

I have to admit, I was expecting that. But as much as I love him, he must know I'm not yet ready.


End file.
